No one remembers how it began. Perhaps not even him.

Flickers of memory, glimpses of bruises and blood, whispers of insults hurled like stones in the dark. A small, trembling boy stands in the center of a dim, cramped room. Shadows crowd the corners, pressing in as if waiting for the right moment to devour him. Each night, each assault on his fragile body, strips away a piece of him until only numbness remains.

This is his normal. This is Elias's world.

In the silent moments, when the pain subsides and his breaths come in gasps, he catches fleeting images he doesn't recognize-warm, gentle smiles, faces that seem familiar, safe. But these memories are like distant stars, swallowed quickly by the black sky. They fade too fast, leaving behind only cold, relentless reality.The boy he once was, whoever that might have been, has disappeared beneath bruises and broken bones. His parents' angry faces loom over him, their eyes devoid of any warmth. He dreams sometimes of fighting back, of breaking free from this cage. But even the act of dreaming feels dangerous.

All he can do is endure. For now.